What affects browsing speed? You might as well be asking What is the meaning of life? Browsing speed is affected by a lot of variables. Your Internet speeds can be affected by settings within Windows, settings within your browser, or the condition of your home network. These tips can be applied to most browsers and home networks to help improve Internet speeds and get rid of some some of the annoyances you experience while surfing the Web.
Simple Web Browser Tweaks
The first web browser tweak we recommend is downloading a second browser. PCs will usually already have IE installed (unless you specified otherwise) and Macs will have Safari pre-installed. Other popular browsers include Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Even if you do not plan on using them, it’s always a good idea to have a second browser on your system in case malware or a corrupt file renders your primary browser useless. Use these tips to tweak web browsers to make them faster.

Get Control Of Your Toolbars – Toolbars can either help or hinder you. Unless you specifically want to use a toolbar to enhance your Internet experience, it is recommended that you remove them. Even if they do not dramatically slow your browsing down, they can be used to track your behavior online or take up valuable screen real estate. Some systems can have multiple toolbars installed, pushing the content to the lower half of the browser window. Freeware programs will often put a toolbar on your browser during the install process, so keep an eye out for the option to uncheck that option when installing or updating third-party apps.

Remove Toolbars in Internet Explorer – Go to Tools, and then click the Manage Add-ons link. Under Add-on types, click Toolbars and Extensions. Select the Toolbar you want to remove and then click disable. Or go to the Control Panel and click on Internet Options and select the Programs tab. You can then click on Manage Add-ons from there.
Remove Toolbars in Firefox – Click View from the top menu and under the Toolbars section, uncheck the toolbars you no longer want to use.
Remove Toolbars in Chrome – Click the wrench icon in the upper right corner and then select Tools. Click Extensions. Disable any toolbars from the list you do not want to use.

Prune Your Favorites – Some people are fastidious with their Favorites (bookmarks). They have a highly-organized folder and sub-folder system, separated into logical categories. But if you’re a bookmarks hoarder, you should occasionally go in and remove or organize your obsolete bookmarks.

Manage IE Favorites  in Internet Explorer 9 – Click the Star in the upper right corner. In the Add to Favorites drop-down, select Organize Favorites.
Manage Firefox Bookmarks -Click the Bookmarks tab, and then click Manage Bookmarks.
Manage Chrome Bookmarks -Click the wrench in the upper right corner and select Bookmarks. Click Bookmarks manager.

Reduce The Size Of The Cache – Your browser has a cache that stores websites and web page elements to help speed up load times if you revisit a site. This is great, but make sure the size of the cache is not so large that it bogs down your system.

Reduce Cache Size in Internet Explorer – Click the gear in the upper right corner and then select Internet Options. Under the General tab and in the Browsing History section, click Settings. You should see “Disk space to use” and a size recommendation. Choose the lower end number.
Reduce Cache Size in Firefox – Click Tools>Options>Advanced. Under the Network tab, you’ll see a Cached web content section with the option to override the default value. Set this to a lower number.

Disable Unnecessary Add-ons – Add-ons are plug-ins that can be installed to enhance your web browsing. These are often supplied by third-party developers and can become out-dated or so buggy they slow everything down. As with toolbars, if you do not specifically want an add-on, you should disable it.

Disable Add-ons in Internet Explorer – Click the gear in the upper right corner, click Internet Options, and then select the Programs tab. Click the Manage Add-ons button.
Disable Add-ons in Firefox – Click Tools from the top menu, and then click the Add-ons link.
Disable Add-ons in Chrome – Click on the wrench in the upper right corner, and then click Tools. Next, click the Extensions. Or you can type this in the Chrome address bar: chrome://settings/extensions.

Home Networking Speed Tweaks
Even if you have a blazing fast broadband connection, there are factors with your home network that can affect your browsing speed. Consider these options for tweaking your home network to improve browsing speed:

Stop Torrents and Other File Sharing  – Torrents and other file sharing services are a constant drain on both your upload and download speeds and can cripple a home network. Check all computers in the house and remove these types of programs.
Streaming Music and Movies – Streaming movies and music with services like Netflix, Hulu and Pandora are great, but running them on computers and televisions in your home affects the speed of your network. When not in use, make sure these are off.
Change DNS settings – We recommend you change your default DNS settings in your router to improve access time to websites. Read our guide on how to change your DNS here.
Wired or Wireless – It’s always best to plug your computer into the router when possible. If you decide to go wireless, update your WiFi adapter and router to newer wireless N models for greater distances and speed.

Browsing Speed Concluded
As you can see, there is a lot to consider when tying to improve your browsing speed. Keeping tight control of your browser settings and making sure your home network is not wasting valuable bandwidth are only a couple of ways to increase Internet speed. If you have suggestions of your own, please let us know.

Most homes these days have multiple computers. Whether it’s a laptop in one room or a desktop PC in another, they will both need access to a printer. Sharing a printer can be complex to setup, and the host PC always needs to be on for any other computers to print to it. A great solution is to add a wireless printer to the network. If you have an existing printer, you can easily make printer wireless by hooking it up to a wireless print server. A print server is a tiny box that connects to the printer, allowing it to be seen and accessed by other machines in your home.
Install A Print Server
You don’t have to be a network guru to install a print server. Print servers will come with a CD that allows you to set up and configure it. There are a few things to consider when setting up the wireless printer. Follow these steps to install your print server and setup the wireless features:

Plug the print server into the printer with a USB cable.
If you want to put the printer on the wired network as well, plug an Ethernet cable into the back.
Plug in the power cable.
Insert the CD into a computer on the network and the setup screen will launch.
You will need to put in the name of your router (the SSID). The SSID is the name you see when you access the router over WiFi.
You will have an option to have the router give the print server an IP address automatically through DHCP or you can assign a static IP address. For ease of setup, allow it to obtain an IP address through DHCP. More experienced users might opt to assign an IP address to the printer.
If asked, select Infrastructure Mode instead of Ad Hoc.

You will then need to go around to each PC and run the CD that came with the print server. The software will install a driver for the print server which is able to see the printer on the network. Once the print driver is installed, run it by going to Start, then All Programs. You should see the print driver utility listed along with the other programs. Once you click on the setup utility, you will be able to select your printer over the network.
If you did not already have the printer installed on your computer, you might need to obtain printer drivers from the printer manufacture if you no longer have the CD.
You can make almost any printer wireless. You will need to get the correct print server for your printer, though. Most print servers will already have inputs for a USB cable. But if you have an older printer that uses a parallel connection, you will need to purchase a print server that have a parallel port.
If you’re ready to put your old printer on the network and make printer wireless, check out these  wireless print servers.

We have all endured a printer won’t print issue. Whether it is printing out an important report, or wedding invitations, it always seems the printer stops working in the worst of times. Here are some general steps to get any printer that won’t print to work.
Fix Printer Won’t Print Issues
If the printer won’t print, he first thing to do is to check all physical connections. It is amazing how many people skip this step. From a technician’s point of view, checking physical connections is generally the first step to any problem. Usually with my experience however, printer issues are based on the software level, not the physical level. However, ignoring this step can bring many headaches.
The second step is to reinstall the printer with up-to-date drivers. Typically, manufacturers upload updated drivers on the Internet compared to the software that was included in the purchase of the printer. To reinstall a printer, go to Printers and Faxes in Windows XP. Highlight the printer, and click delete this printer. The Operating System will ask you if you are sure you want to delete the printer, and say yes. At this point, if the printer is USB, unplug the printer from the computer.
On a side note, the general practice is to install USB software before the device is plugged in.
Go online to your printer’s manufacturer’s website, and download the drivers for your printer. Once it is downloaded, run the software. This software installs needed information for your printer to talk to your processor, or essentially your computer in regards to printing. Most driver installation software allows you to print a test page after the installation completes. Go ahead and print a test page!
Printer Won’t Print – Hardware Issue
Now, if your printer still does not print, we can then conclude it is most likely a hardware problem. The physical printer could be bad, or the connecting cable is bad, or the port is bad on the computer. Go ahead and change ports on the computer, to rule out the possibility of a bad port. If that does not work, it is safe to say that it is time to purchase another printer.
Printers can be very irritating. With my experience, it was hard to keep a printer installed on Vista before service pack 1. So make sure if you are running Vista to upgrade to service pack 1 if you have not done so already.
If you follow these quick and easy steps, you can resolve most printer won’t print issues.
Jon Brengle
A+, Network +, MCP Certified

This video demonstrates how to test a Corsair power supply. This test only tests the power supply to confirm it is not dead. It does not determine if there is another issue with the power supply or how it will perform under a normal load.

You should perform this type of test if you push the power button on your computer and nothing happens–no sounds, no fans, nothing.
If the power supply fan is spinning, there is no need to go to this length and perform this test. You can, however use a multimeter or a power supply tester to check if the power supply is functioning normally–meaning it is supplying the proper amount of power to the computer.

You can easily configure your D-Link router to give priority to certain packets over others. This is called “traffic shaping,” meaning you are determining which packets have the right-of-way on your network. This is also know as Quality of Service (or QoS). Not all routers have this ability, but if your model does, you can configure D-Link QoS quickly if you know specifics about your computer’s settings. If your router doesn’t appear to have this ability, try downloading the latest firmware and try again, as this feature might have been added later.
How To Configure D-Link Quality of Service
You will need to know the IP addresses for each computer you want to assign QoS rules for. The easiest way to do this is to assign a range of IP addresses you know your router will use first. For example, if your D-Link router has an IP address of 192.168.0.1, then you know it will begin assigning IP addresses to computers beginning with 192.168.0.2. If you have game consoles, printers and other specialty devices, you may want to assign them static IP addresses above a specific range to make QoS easier to configure.
To enable QoS in your router, go to your web browser and type in http://192.168.0.1 and login with your username and password. You will find the QOS Engine under the advanced tab.
In the image below, we have configured a number 1 priority for a range of computers in our office. We have then given second priority to an Xbox game console. We gave the Xbox a static IP address so it would remain well above the number of PCs we had in the office. Since Internet and VoIP access are important to the PCs in the office, we gave them priority over the game console to preserve bandwidth and improve reliability.

It doesn’t matter how fast your Internet connection is. You should still consider setting up QoS on your router to give priority to some machines over others. While the above example is for a D-Link DIR-825 router, setting up Quality of Service on Linksys and other routers is a very similar process. It’s also important to write down all of your settings and any changes you make. If something goes wrong, you can always either revert the router back to factory defaults or use your notes to step the settings back.
Refer to your router manual or website for specific documentation. If you still have questions about Dlink QoS, let us know.